History
The Gwent Levels formed after rising sea levels created the Severn Estuary around 8000 years ago. Along the low-lying edge of the estuary formed a vast watery wilderness of tidal mud flats, creeks, saltmarshes, peat bogs, reed swamps and wet woodland.
Humans have exploited the Levels for thousands of years, first as nomads, hunting game and fishing in the wild coastal marshes, then later as farmers, grazing cattle and building trackways and small settlements during the drier summer months.
Roman military engineers were the first to reclaim the land from the sea for year-round use. They built a network of banks, ditches, drains and sluices to control water levels. After the Romans left in the 5th century, the drainage system failed, and the Levels returned to a wild wetland.
Six hundred years later, the Normans made a more lasting attempt to tame the Levels. The monks of Goldcliff Priory and Tintern Abbey repaired and extended the Roman network of sea defences and ditches, forming the pattern of reed-fringed reens, small fields and winding lanes that can still be seen on many parts of the Levels today.
Following the dissolution of the monasteries, King Henry VIII introduced laws to govern the management of coastal wetlands. He created Commissioners and Courts of Sewers to oversee the maintenance of seawalls and drainage ditches. This system operated for 400 years.
Today, although the Levels are intensively farmed, they retain many ancient features, such as traditional field patterns, and unique wetland habitats. These are the legacy of those who hand-crafted this landscape over thousands of years.
